The mightyavocado. You’ve probably heard plenty about the health benefits of this fruit. It contains a number of heart-healthy compounds and is tasty to boot. However, is avocado oil as good for you as the fruit itself? How does it compare to things like olive oil and coconut oil? Are there reasons why you might want to reach for avocado oil instead of some of the alternatives? And how is it made?
Read on to find the answers to these questions and much, much more.
What Is Avocado Oil?
Avocado oil is, thankfully, exactly what it sounds like. This cooking oil, which can be drizzled over a salad or used to sauté vegetables, among other uses, is made from avocados that have been cold-pressed, just like the olives that become olive oil.
Avocado oil retains the color of the fruits themselves and appears to be very pale green in the bottle. It even has some of the same flavors as avocados, so it adds a gentle flavor to your meals. Basically, if you like avocados in any way, shape, or form, you’ll like avocado oil.
The Health Benefits of Avocado OilÂ
On top of being tasty, avocado oil has a number of health benefits. One single tablespoon of the oil contains only 124 calories. It also has zero grams of protein (which is to be expected in an oil made from fruit), sugar, fiber, and carbohydrates. The latter makes it a great option for people on a low-carb diet, such as keto.
That single tablespoon of avocado oil does contain 14 grams of healthy fat, as well as nutritional benefits like monounsaturated fat, Vitamin E, and oleic acid. It even has the carotenoid lutein, which is usually found in carrots and yellow or orange bell peppers.
And that’s not all. There are plenty of other healthy reasons to reach for avocado oil over the other choices, such as:
High Smoke PointÂ
The smoke point of a cooking liquid like olive oil, butter, coconut oil, or avocado oil is the point at which it starts giving off harmful free radicals. Once the liquid reaches this point, it starts to degrade and can affect the taste of your food as well, making it taste burned or charred.
Since avocado oil has a higher smoke point than olive oil and several other popular options, it’s easier to cook safely with it, and you won’t have to worry about ingesting those free radicals that can contribute to the aging process.
Plenty of AntioxidantsÂ
Speaking of free radicals, antioxidants are designed to combat them. Some antioxidants, such as Vitamin E, appear in large amounts in avocado oil. For example, one tablespoon of avocado oil contains a whopping 23% of your daily value (the amount of the nutrient that you should eat every day) of Vitamin E. This means that if you include four tablespoons of the oil in your diet each day, you’re getting enough of this particular antioxidant. Since you can use avocado oil as salad dressing, as well as cook with it, this is an easy goal to achieve.
Improves Your Heart Health
There are two different types of cholesterol in your blood. The first, high-density lipoprotein, is also known as HDL. It’s the “good” cholesterol that you want in your system. The other, LDL, which is short for low-density lipoprotein, is the “bad” kind that causes fats to clump up in your bloodstream leading to heart attacks and strokes. In order to maintain your heart health, you need to make sure that your LDL levels are constantly lowering and your HDL levels are rising, within healthy measurements, of course.
How does avocado oil help your heart health? It contains compounds that raise your HDL levels, lower your LDL levels, and reduce the amount of triglycerides in your blood. It can even lower your blood pressure.
Helps You Absorb NutrientsÂ
In order for you to be at your maximum health levels, you need the right amount of nutrients every day. The only problem is that sometimes your digestive system just doesn’t absorb them properly, so even if you eat right and have a well-rounded, healthy diet, you end up missing out on some of what you need in order to be as healthy as possible.
This is where avocado oil comes into play. It has enough healthy fats in it to help you absorb nutrients that travel into your bloodstream. For example, carotenoids, which are an antioxidant that helps your eyesight, among other things, are found in foods that are naturally low in fats, which means that they can’t find their way into your system on their own. By combining them with avocado oil, you end up with these carotenoids in your system.
It’s Good for Your EyesÂ
Lutein is an interesting nutrient. You need to have it in your system, as it improves your eye health and overall strengthens your eyes.
What’s unusual about lutein is the fact that your eyes naturally contain the nutrient, but your body doesn’t manufacture it. This means that in order to get enough lutein in your body to strengthen your eyes and prevent damage like macular degeneration and cataracts, you need to eat foods that contain it.
Avocado oil is one of those foods, so adding it to your meals can improve your eye health and make it less likely that you’ll end up with eye diseases that are related to age.
Contains Anti-Inflammatory Properties
Inflammation causes a number of issues. It occurs when your joints become inflamed due to the breakdown of cartilage. Inflammation in your organs and muscles can cause pain. In order to stop inflammation, you should incorporate foods with unsaponifiables into your diet. Avocado oil is one of these unsaponifiables. (The compound is also found in soybeans, for the record.)
By including avocado oil in your diet, you’re preventing new inflammation from occurring and even lowering the existing levels of inflammation in your body.
Stops Free RadicalsÂ
If you’ve watched any kind of commercial for an anti-aging product or paid attention to exactly what makes you age faster than you should, then you’ve probably heard the term “free radicals” before. These free radicals cause cellular damage and are a waste product created by your metabolism.
Since they are naturally created in the body, free radicals can be tricky to stop. However, certain foods, like avocado oil, contain antioxidants (this is not the first time you’ve read that word in this article) that can stop free radicals in their tracks. By adding avocado oil to your diet, you’re essentially neutralizing those free radicals before they can do any harm.
Avocado Oil or Olive Oil?
While olive oil is the far more popular option, as more people are familiar with it than they are avocado oil, the latter is the best thing to reach for health-wise. Each has a similar amount of calories and fats, but the high smoke point of avocado oil makes it a better option simply because you’re less likely to ingest those harmful free radicals.
With that said, both olive oil and avocado oil are better for you than other cooking oils, such as butter, which has a low smoke point and plenty of potentially harmful fats. It all comes down to the flavor that you prefer, and avocado oil is quite tasty on its own, as well as when it’s mixed into or used to cook other foods.
What Can You Do with Avocado Oil?Â
Not only is avocado oil good for you, but it’s also very versatile and easy to incorporate into your diet. Simply drizzle some avocado oil, straight from the bottle, over your salad in place of salad dressing. It even works well with steamed or grilled vegetables in this manner, giving them a little flavor.
In addition, feel free to use avocado oil in any recipe that calls for olive oil, such as those that require you to sauté vegetables and meats, or in baked treats, like cakes and cookies.
Wrapping Things UpÂ
Avocado oil is very healthy for you, your eyes, and, well, your whole body! Although it has a very distinctive look and flavor, reflective of the fruits that it’s made from, meaning that it may not be for everyone, this oil is great for cooking and is very healthy for you.
It contains plenty of good cholesterol and fats, as well as compounds and nutrients that help the anti-aging process, prevent eye diseases, and give you a healthy heart. On top of that, avocado oil is low in calories and is free of carbohydrates, making it great for people who follow a specific diet or are simply trying to lose weight. So, give avocado oil a whirl, and you definitely won’t regret it!
Sources:
9 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Avocado Oil | Healthline
Avocado Oil: Is It Good for You? Pros and Cons, Nutrition Information, and More | WebMD